


Novella Heroine

by Saesama



Series: 28xFirst Kiss Combo [20]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, F/M, First Kiss, Fisticuffs, part of me wants to make this an ask blog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2013-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-28 19:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/995834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saesama/pseuds/Saesama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grand adventures, jealous rivals and melodramatic escapes were not in the description for this job. You cannot find it in yourself to be disappointed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Novella Heroine

When you took the job of field scribe to the world's most preeminent explorer, you hadn't expected many things. You hadn't expected Jake English to actually drag you into the field with him. You hadn't expected to learn to live out of a tent and a knapsack. You hadn't expected to become his accomplice in so many of his schemes. You hadn't expected to grow to genuinely like your employer.

And you certainly hadn't expected his life to be as truly melodramatic as his beloved adventure novels.

And yet, here you were, trussed up like a novella heroine by a jealous rival of Jake English. The man was bound and determined to find the lost kingdoms of Prospit and Derse before Mr. English did, and as his scribe, you knew almost as much about his digs and explorations as he did. You were tied into a chair in the center of a library and the young man was prodding you with questions, trying to elicit a response.

Your childhood was marked with daily mental battles with Roxy Lalonde and the Strider brothers; this academic couldn't break you with a forty pound sledge. Thank the gods he wasn't indulging in mustache-twirling villain melodrama. You would hate to ruin his fun by laughing at him.

You caught a glimpse of Jake slipping in through a window, and one of the guards was dropped almost silently. Amateurs. They were all paying attention to you, not the perimeter or each other. Quite unlike the guards in Bonkhatta, where you had to pose as Jake's harem girl to gain access to the Royal Library. Or the guards of Lord Kuranes in the great city of Celephasis, when you were the Islander Prince and the Mountain Princess and you'd escaped with only your lives and the worlds largest star sapphire.

And, perhaps, you'd long ago ceased to be nothing more than a field scribe.

"Well, Ms. Lalonde," the skinny academic hissed. Behind him, another guard was dragged off into the stacks. "I think this has gone on long enough, don't you?"

"I agree," you said politely. Then you stomped on his foot with a heavy boot - you'd taken to wearing them after Serranian - and when he yelled, you surged up and head-butted him in the gut - the chair wasn't heavy, nor secured to the floor, and Jake taught you a few tricks to end a fight quickly after the disaster at Leng. Your captor sat down, hard, and you broke his jaw with a well placed kick as a lesson; always secure a captives legs as well as their arms.

The guards yelled, because Jake English was among them, heavy of fist and foot, and you tripped one when he ran to help his fellows. Jake laid one low and threw the last into a bookshelf before running to help you. He didn't bother to try and untie your wrists from each other; he merely snapped the slats that made up the back of the chair. You took a precious few seconds to wiggle your hands in front of you instead of behind, then Jake scooped you up and ran.

"I am quite capable of walking, Mr. English," you protested.

"I'm aware, Ms. Lalonde," he grunted, tossing you over his shoulder to climb a ladder to the upper stacks. Okay, yes, you would not have made it up the ladder, but he could have been a little more dignified about it.

Bullets whizzed past as Jake set you down and led you along the balcony. He kicked open a door and you both hurried up a short flight of stairs to-

"Jake, you led us to the roof, and as far as I'm aware, neither of us can fly."

Jake grinned and pointed up. "Oh?"

Dirk's dirigible, the _Sweet Bro_ , hovered overhead. A rope ladder dropped down and you could just barely see Jade grinning down at you from the hatch. Jake looped an arm around your waist and you slid your bound hands around his neck as he grabbed the ladder and then you were up, the roof and remaining guards falling away beneath your feet.

"Just like a good adventure novel, eh?" Jake grinned when you clutched at him as best you could.

You looked up at him. He was insufferably good-humored, and somewhere, you'd stopped being annoyed by that. "Not quite yet, Mr. English," you said primly, then you kissed him sound on the mouth.

He nearly dropped you in shock.


End file.
